Thought this was funny how the economy can affect even the smallest trick-or-treater!

halloween tag

Love to be tagged? I do! I read this on Jaimee's blog about helping inspire costume ideas.

Visit The Occasional Genius for more instructions.

Here is my Halloween Hall of Fame:

2002--Ryanna was a duckie, and I was a Starbucks Barista. (it helped that I worked there to get the "costume")

2003--No recollection of this year at all, I wonder where my brain was.

2004--My Dad's birthday is Halloween, and every year since I was young we'd always trick-or-treat at his work. This year he was the devil. (Actually EVERY year he's the devil, he just dressed accordingly this year) Ryanna is a little ladybug.
Dawson was a 5 week-old-Orange-blob.

My sister, Aimee, was so awesome! She made this costume, it was half-kid and half-grown up. She went to a party and was a hit! Way to go, Aim!




2005---Ryanna was a USA Cheerleader, Dawson was a leopard and Ryan dressed as a Homicidal-Maniac. (because they look like "regular people") Maybe he was just dressed as a BSU fan.

2006--Do I blackout and sleep through Halloween? This is the second year that I have no pictures, no nothing!

2007-- Toy Story 2 Theme! >
I can't wait for this year, I'm so excited, I've had their costumes ready for months. Yes, I love Halloween and admitting it is the first step!

I wish that I had one of Ryan's favorite costumes: He was Superman and blew up arm-floaties and stuck them under his costume to make "muscles." He was so cute! I went as Snow White when I was in high school, wish I could snag THAT picture! Hey, if the dress fits!

loveable philanges

Today I'm thankful for beautiful, little, sometimes-very-dirty, hands! Carter's especially. He has learned how to wave so he shows off his talent anytime he can; and he's so proud of himself. I think of how someday those hands will turn into big, strong ones that can help provide for his own family. Ohhhh, I love those precious tiny hands!

(No, I still haven't cut his hair! I can't bring myself to doing it! A couple days ago, he was mistaken for a girl....again.)

interesting thought

I ran to WinCo last night to do some grocery shopping. It reminded me of a conversation that I had with a gal that I visit teach. We were chatting about how busy we moms are, working outside the home as well as inside. We were talking about how many times we'll touch that single bag of apples, or that single box of crackers. This is what we concluded:

1) Pick it off the shelf, throwing it into your cart

2) Take it from your cart, onto the belt

3) (then the cashier will touch it to ring it up)

4) Place it in the bag (if you're at WinCo)

5) Carry the bag inside

6) Take it out of the bag and place on shelf, or in fridge

7) Take it back out of the cupboard when you're ready to use it

I've even missed a couple times if it falls on the floor, or any time the kids have been "helpful" and you need to put item back away. You can touch a single box of crackers up to 10 times!!

Although I don't work outside the home, I still teach piano a few afternoons a week. We were also talking about how many times we bend over, pick up and wash any given item in a single 24-hour period.

Think about it, how many miles do we walk just inside the confines of our own walls? I know I personally take over 5000 steps just in my house, that's just short of a mile! I only have 1200 square feet of actual floorspace, so my hallway is traveled a lot.

Okay, so I think I got it! After all these years, I think I got it! My mom was trying to teach me about "touching things once" and I'm starting to realize why. I wish I could have been better about doing that for her sake, but now I'm instilling this genius idea in the heads of my husband and children. This, of course, isn't for their benefit, it's for mine!

secrets and a diary

I just want to say that I'm a fan! Madeleine Wickam (aka Sophie Kinsella) is an awesome British author, she's got such a fun personality. I listened to the book-on-CD all 6 hours in the car and anywhere else I could listen. Those of you that know me, I DO NOT read! I can't sit still long enough, so when I got into the audiobook, I was hooked. (is that cheating?) The only thing that might bother someone is the language, but it really didn't bother me.

I also finished Bridget Jones! I don't know what's gotten into me, the British humorist-bug has bitten me! I was rolling on the floor at times during these two books. It's a nice escape from the every day routine with laundry and dishes. Anything with Colin Firth is a definite vacation, anytime he reprises a roll that's named Mr. Darcy is sure to have me enthralled!

recipe for disaster

I accepted Christy's tag for sharing most embarassing moments, so here's a couple entertaining memories I have:

It was my sophomore year, I was in the CHS Marching Band and the wonderful Mr. Hartman was the director. We were dressed in our uniforms as we were going to perform during halftime during one of the football games. I grabbed my pair of white shoes, put on my hat, grabbed my flute and ran out the door and got into formation. I realized that my shoes were a little too big for my feet and as I was marching during the first song, one of my feet slipped right out of my shoe! It's hard to roll-step with only one shoe on. As I recall, one of the baritones tripped on it and ended up knocking him out of formation. If you were in band, you knew all about it.

I think it was the exact same night as a guy named Ryan forgot his hat and marched without it; naming him "Hatless Holdaway." (little did I know that it was my future husband!)

Ironically, there are several more that happened while in band. Why is that?

There are more embarassing moments under my belt like the usual passing gas infront of peers at school, sneezing so hard during class that snot comes out my nose, yelling a word out to my friends walking down the street not knowing the word I was saying was an obsenity, etc. You know the usual.

One of my absolute favorites was during my Psych 101 class at Ricks. There were four in my group, me, these other two girls and this absolutely adorable guy named Casey. We were training a baby chick and while Casey was holding the baby chick, it pooped on his hand.

While this otherwise wasn't very funny, I found it to be hilarious. I was leaning over Casey having a laughing fit! It threw me into the giggles so bad I couldn't catch my breath. I couldn't get a grip on my emotions, nor close my mouth to muffle the giggles. And then it happened!
I drooled like a baby all up his arm! Needless to say, the class stopped to see what was going on, and the spit-line was being shown off. I found it to be interesting that rather than asking me out, he asked out another girl in the group. I don't get it.

It's a good thing I don't embarass easily. I think.

lilac city weekend

I ran up to Spokane on Friday to spend the weekend with my friend, Cassie, from high school. I'm so glad that I got to see her! I had so much fun. It was very relaxing.

I went shopping

Savored yummy truffles

Ate loads of Mexican food

And watched fun movies


It was nice to get away for a couple days, but it was also nice to come home!